I can't be the only one who thinks they have a father daughter kind of relationship, so in the final episode it was really weird seeing them have sex. Vick's attraction to Walt has always been weird to me, but it was super weird when they hooked up.
shareThat’s the way it goes in the Wild Wild West
shareYes, that was very disappointing. Vic had clearly been smitten with him over the years but also seemed to see him more as a father figure than a lover. At least that would have been a better way of approaching the relationship. For him to then engage in a romantic relationship with her was just too weird. To me, it was also a drastic change in direction and theme for the show, and made for a disappointing ending.
I thoroughly loved the show otherwise. Great acting, casting, writing, cinematography, music. Why end on such a jarring and uncharacteristic note?
I wish I had been able to watch more Longmire. Often when shows end people complain when they didn't get a cookie cutter happy ending. Maybe that's what they were trying to do here. Btw, Sackhoff always seemed to be a rather stout girl, as in, tall and strong, so I don't know how many guys might fit her profile, especially in rural Wyoming.
shareI agree. Vic was so much more the kind of person I would expect a man like Walt to have raised whether he meant to or not. Maybe sleeping together needed to happen if only to get it out of their systems. But as lovers? No way. She was so broken up after losing her baby, she’s eventually going to want another, and Walt has to be at least 30 years her senior, retired now, and off to spend maybe months looking for treasure – alone in the Wyoming wilderness. If he survives that, I can't see him wanting to raise another kid at his age. I think that as he drove off to look for the treasure, she should’ve called someone and had a conversation that made it clear she wanted to revisit a previous romantic relationship. Most logical choice would be Eamonn.
As to Cady becoming sheriff? No way! All the crises that visited her were due to her consistently poor judgment and her equally poor handling of them, like a frightened mouse. For example, the Cheyenne boy who was dying of scarlet fever. Never once did she stress to anyone that to allow another of their dwindling number to be taken by a white man’s disease was unconscionable, even hypocritical. You cannot build trust and earn respect when you obviously have no idea, much less desire, as it appeared, to understand and find a way to connect with anyone so there’s never a question that you’re there to protect and defend not only their persons and property, but equally their way of life. To run for sheriff of a county with no jurisdiction on the res served not only to illustrate (to me, at least) her moral and emotional separation from the Cheyenne people. It enhanced her intent to keep it that way, or at the very least, the fact that she didn’t have the guts to try harder to win them back, especially with Nighthorse gone and good-hearted Henry in his place to fund her legal aid clinic.
And the phone call Walt took at the end? Throughout the series, he didn't have a cell phone and kept insisting he didn't need one. However, when they were rescuing Nighthorse and Henry, he admitted to Vic that they did come in handy. So that call at the end was just to show us that finally! He got one! It would've also worked for me if they'd shown us his screen and his caller ID said "Donna".
I thought it was weird to actually pair up Walt and Vic at the end and wish the writers had taken another path. On that we definitely agree. "30 years her senior" is a bit much, though. The real life Robert Taylor and Katee Sackhoff are only 16 years apart.
shareIf I remember correctly, somewhere in the series, someone "accused" Vic of being 35 or 40, and she reluctantly replied she was 32. And they made it a point to have Cady and Walt say "retire" rather than "quit" several times. And for him to say he was going to hunt for Hamilton's treasure because after he retired, he was going to need the money pretty much convinced me he was at least 62. And in costume and makeup, he kinda sorta looked it. Which made it seem that's what the writers were trying to convey because at some point, they intended to make their father-daughter relationship a fact. Yes, they were accused of sleeping together several times, but a large portion of that came from people trying to discredit him and get him out office. I don't know what steered the writers in the "wrong" direction, but I haven't read the books. Once I do, I might be able to figure it out.
shareI could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that Vic and Walt end up romantically involved in the books, and that some readers have even speculated that it's a kind of wish fulfillment for the series's author, putting himself in Walt's place.
If there was actually supposed to be about 30 years between the two of them in the show, I'm not sure I ever grasped that. He definitely came off as older than her, but not 30 years older. I'm also not sure I ever thought of him as being old enough to be in his 60s, even though you do have a point about him retiring. In actual fact, Robert Taylor was still in his 40s when he began making the show.
Well, when Donna was kidnapped, he specifically described her as "45 to 50" years old instead of the more common "middle aged", as if they wanted us to know she was closer to Walt's perceived age than Vic. And when they broke up, neither of them closed the door on their relationship. They just agreed that right then was the wrong time for it. So it just seemed to me the screenwriters were headed in the direction of them getting back together because they were better suited to each other than him and Vic. Perhaps, as you said, the original author wanted it his way instead. Anyway...
"it's a kind of wish fulfillment for the series's author, putting himself in Walt's place."
LOL! I suppose that’s at the back of most every writer’s mind. I know one other author who over all the dozens of books they wrote definitely lamented not being able to remain 19 or so years young and invincible their entire life. All that one’s protagonists always had the fastest gun, the best horse, the smartest and quickest mind, stellar fist skills, etc., and everyone who challenged him never bested him at anything, including winning the "fluff" girl that proliferated every one of that author's stories.
Ah, fiction.
Sounds a little like Louis L'Amour. . .
share:}
shareFunny thing is, I actually just started reading my first L'Amour book a few weeks ago.
He had been on my list of authors to check out for a while and then I ran across Son of a Wanted Man at the airport.
I've read three minor L'Amour paperbacks, and that was enough, the last one being the Sixth Shotgun with a forward by John Tuska, which is Tuska's must-read interview of L'Amour.
There are many, many superior Westerns authors out there, but the three books I keep coming back to are Deep West by Ernest Haycox, The Pride of Hannah Wade by Janet Daley, and The Searchers by Alan LeMay.
Thanks for the recommendations. I've watched a fair amount of Western films and TV shows, but for whatever reason Son of a Wanted Man is the first Western novel I've ever read.
shareThe series went downhill after Netflix took it over. Seasons 1-3 are excellent though.
shareEh, if it did, it wasn't enough to complain about. I was still enjoying the show immensely when it was canceled.
Like most procedurals I thought it was a show that could've just run indefinitely. I would've at least liked to have gotten another couple of seasons, but at the same time I have to praise Netflix for rescuing the show in the first place. Six seasons is much better than three.
Damn, I really miss Longmire!
It was weird in the books too, where this attractive woman propositioned her boss who was twice her age out of the blue, and he did the unprofessional thing and went for it.
They were sort of together in some of the books, and quite frankly, there never seemed to be much to the relationship except a lack of other options.